Check out our dioramas and some excellent writing from our Ecosystem Extravaganza project below. Students had to research an ecosystem and recreate it in a diorama. Then they needed to write a story from the perspective of an animal in their ecosystem. On top of all of that, students then wrote a poem or a rap about life in their ecosystem. Great job everyone!

In The Amazon RainforestBy Yubin

In Amazon rainforestPlants get light from the sunWater from the groundAnd turn them into sugarThat’s why we call them producers

In Amazon rainforestAnimals live on land, water, in the air, and in treesThat’s why people call it“Lungs of our planet”

A Day in the Life of a MudskipperBy Danny

Hello I am a mudskipper. We as mudskippers can change our lenses of our eyes so we can see out and in of the water. I think I am very handsome I have light green blobs all over my back, the rest is brown and or dark green. I have bulgy eyes on the top of my head. I have a long tale with a flap on the end.I also have flipper like arms as well. I live in a mangrove swamp off the coast of Florida. I would probably do what you would every day at the beach well some parts like laying down letting the sun hit you in the back. Or going into the water and play. Now instead of walking we use our strong fins like wobbly feet. This may sound slow and you probably are thinking how do I get any where, but actually it’s pretty efficient and we can leap faster than a walking human .I woke up in the morning and I was in my morning burrow. I made a hole and looked out. It was low tide I pushed my self out and suddenly I am starving. I scanned the area searching for any insect so I can have a marvelous meal . After that I started to crutch on the wet sand searching for a mangrove tree . I traveled along and suddenly I found a fly in the air. I lept off the ground and gulped the fly. Even though that was a meal I’m still hungry. I strolled along a little and happened to find a mudskipper on a log. I went up to him and said ”Hey.” “Shhh.” She replied “ I’m trying to catch a crab.” Suddenly a few crabs started coming out of a small hole in the ground. We both lept. I was at a different angle than her. So she went up and I went across. I grabbed the crab quickly and she fell on her face. I stuffed the crab into my mouth and said “ Mmmm”. She stared at me and then walked away. I just smiled .I began to catch crabs. I did that for a while until I looked over and saw some water .That meant that it’s beginning to get to high tide. So my predators will be trying to get me. I jumped off the log and started crutching towards my burrow.

The water was up to my stomach. I crutched as far as I could until I felt like my flipper like arms were about to fall off. I crutched along for a while when I saw a hole I heard rumbling ahead of me, I looked up and saw a giant wave. no No NO this can’t be happening I thought to myself. This happened once to a mudskipper when I was going back into my burrow I saw the whole thing it was awful. I hopped as fast I could I was in mid air when I thought, can I make it? Can I make it? but there’s one thing for sure I wish I did, SWISH.I changed lenses so I could see underwater. But I wish I didn’t. I saw the worst thing of my life, A gigantic fish with the most massive teeth you could ever see. “Hello little guy” he whispered, I was silent it was like if I was paralyzed he opened his mouth so I had to move I turned around and swam the only thing on my mind was swim swim swim. I looked behind me and saw a yellowish brown open mouth with teeth the size of glaciers. Well what happened next was pretty surprising. I saw a log. Since the fish can’t get on water it is probably the only way I could survive. So I swam toward the log. I looked behind me once more and the fish’s mouth was over my head. I looked at the log and something was different this time. It was in a different position. Then it started coming toward me. Then I saw two pitch black creepy eyes staring right at me then I realized it wasn't a log it was a creature. It was too big to want to eat me but I thought that it might want the fish it was moving in closer inch by inch step by step then it plunged right into the fish's stomach and gobbled it up. I don’t care if that thing wanted to kill me. I went up to it and bellowed “Thank you, what are you?” “I am a crocodile. Any time for a free meal!” She responded in a screechy voice. I asked directions to the nearest mangrove tree and she gave me a ride catching any animal that looks big enough to eat. I safely got to the nearest mangrove tree. I dug a hole in the tree and slept there until the next low tide.

Life as a SnailBy Julia

I slowly crawl towards the big tidepool as I do every day. The sun is rising and I can already tell it is going to be a scorching hot day. I see my neighbors out and about moving so fast. I envy them and imagine what I would do if I could move that fast. Everyday, I would wake up and zoom over to the tidepool. I would eat as much as I could hold, then go explore. I would go all over the rocks and play with the other organisms. By the end of the day I would be so tired I would fall asleep the minute my eyelids closed over my eyes.“Hi Snail” Crab cheerfully says to me, snapping me out of my daze.“Hi Crab” I mumble, continuing on my journey.I can barely stand the hunger anymore when I’m halfway there. All I want is some food, I think to myself. The sun is directly above me and I’m starting to get hot. I reach a patch of barnacles and crawl over the bumpy crustaceans.I stop to take a break when I reach the end of the barnacles. A shadow passes over me and I look up to see three seagulls circling above my head. I retract into my hard shell to protect myself from the predators looming above me. I stick my tentacles out of my shell and see with my eyes on the ends of them that other animals are taking cover as well. I also see one of the gulls heading straight toward me! I hastily bring my tentacles back under my shell and wait. After a while, I poke my tentacles out again. To my relief there are no seagulls near me.Then out of the corner of my eye I see one diving at crab! “No!” I yell, “Stop!” But it’s too late crab is already being lifted away in that rotten seagulls mouth. That’s when I realize that could have been me, but thanks to my shell I’m safe and sound. I’m glad I’m a snail, I think to myself, even if I move slowly at least I can protect myself.Once the seagulls are all gone, I fully come out of my shell and head out to the tidepool were I will eat some delicious plants. I don’t care if it takes two minutes or if it takes two hours, as long as I get there.

Life as a ToucanBy Olivia D.

A normal bird sitting on a branch is mostly never afraid of the branch breaking because he trusts in his wings, but for me things are different. It all started one rainy day hovering over what looked to be a twenty foot drop down to the grassy bottom of the tropical rainforest. Fear swelled up inside of me and a deep pit started to form in my stomach. Suddenly I got tired of being afraid and jumped off the branch. I flapped my wings up and down repeatedly but no matter how hard I tried nothing happened. This is when I realized what I was in for.“Help!” I screeched, but nobody came.The drop down seemed to take hours even though I knew it would be just a matter of seconds before I crashed down onto the rocky forest floor. Blurs of colors surrounded me, reds, greens, and yellows danced around but my fear made it too frightening to enjoy. I finally hit the ground, pain shot up my left wing and before I knew it everything went black.I woke up with a start not knowing where I was and looked around. Suddenly I got a cold feeling, like somebody was watching me yet they were so close I could almost feel them. I gradually turned around, shivers going down my spine. And there it was, his sleek yet strong body lay on the grassy floor and his sunset eyes seemed to be glowing in the dark night sky. I felt butterflies dancing around inside of me.An average bird would just take one quick glance at that jaguar and fly off with no worries, but for me things were different. It all started when that nasty jaguar pounced on top of me. I rapidly moved to the side watching as the jaguar jumped on a pile of sticks. I could see the rage build up inside of him making the beast leap through the air. I dodged him another time but instead of waiting I raced far away from that jaguar without looking back.Jaguars eat toucans, toucans eat insects, insects eat plants. I guess that’s just how life works. But one unanswerable question always comes to my mind, what caused all this to happen? That’s something that never will be answered.I walked miserably across the rocky rainforest wondering what I’ll have to face next. The thought suddenly vanished as I realized how hungry I was so I decided to explore in search of some food.“What do you think you’re doing?” An unfriendly voice startled me.“Who is it?” I questioned, my voice trembling.Suddenly out of nowhere a green stripe slithered past me like a bolt of lightning.“Who is it?” I repeated trying to act as if I wasn’t afraid.My head ached and I wasn’t ready to deal with anything else.“Who is there?” I almost screamed, scaring the slimy creature.“I… um… I’m the snake of the forest of course.” He said in a nervous tone not seeming so sure of what he said.“This area belongs to me and you are trespassing on my property.” This time as he said it he seemed surer of himself.“I am not leaving!” I said boldly making sure he was listening.“Well… um… Uh….” The snake’s worried expression got the best of him and so he slithered away. I grinned as he left feeling confident in my new approach to things.Any normal bird would have just flown away, trying not to get into any trouble, but for me things are different.I knew sometime or another I would need to give up and go back to find my flock, the flock that I belonged with.“Why should I?” I questioned myself.If they wanted me there they wouldn’t have just left me in a tree with nothing to eat. I thought about my choices for a moment then quickly decided it was best for me not to go back.Hours slowly past and the hunger got the best of me. I stomped desperately back and forth trying to think of any possible solution but none came to my mind. After several minutes of pacing around I decided I was done with all this nonsense.“I am going to find food!” I said, determination building up inside of me.The hunt was dreadful. I spent many sorrowful moments where I didn’t have the gut to even get a single fly out of the air. Suddenly I caught a colorful banana tree out from the corner of my eye, a grin crept up my face. Then I realized that I couldn’t fly. All the awful moments hit me like a magical force pushing me away yet I was determined not to let that get the better of me.“NO!” I hollered and suddenly I felt my feet pick up from under me.Any normal bird would have given up, but for me things are different. For me things have changed.